Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Marko Spasić Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Soil Science and Soil Protection, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Luboš Borůvka Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Soil Science and Soil Protection, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Oldřich Vacek Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Soil Science and Soil Protection, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Ondřej Drábek Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Soil Science and Soil Protection, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Václav Tejnecký Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Soil Science and Soil Protection, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Title: Pedogenesis problems on reclaimed coal mining sites Abstract: Open-cast coal mining presents a big global issue because of the large areas the mines occupy, which get entirely changed. Their ecosystems lose most of their functions, and a huge amount of fertile soil gets utterly destroyed. Reclamation is a process of returning the functions of the soil after the excavation is finished, most commonly achieved by establishing vegetation, which can sometimes be very difficult. This happens due to the physical, chemical and biological changes that occur on these sites, which are described in this paper. Also, some directions for mitigating these problems are given. Once the vegetation is successfully introduced, natural cycles that were compromised by the mining are established once again, and the process of soil formation begins. Some trends and problems related to pedogenesis research on reclaimed mine sites are presented and discussed, along with presumptions of how the process of soil formation evolves on afforested clayey Technosols of central Europe. The potential future research which would confirm these presumptions is discussed, with the emphasis on the need of research performed on older reclamation sites, as well as sites with similar ecological conditions and different tree species cover. Keywords: biodiversity, coal, mining, natural succession, pedogenesis, reclamation Journal: Soil and Water Research Pages: 137-150 Volume: 16 Issue: 3 Year: 2021 DOI: 10.17221/163/2020-SWR File-URL: http://swr.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/163/2020-SWR.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/swr-202103-0001.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlswr:v:16:y:2021:i:3:id:163-2020-SWR Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Xiaolong Wu Author-Workplace-Name: College of Desert Control Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, P.R. China Author-Name: Zhongju Meng Author-Workplace-Name: College of Desert Control Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, P.R. China Author-Name: Xiaohong Dang Author-Workplace-Name: College of Desert Control Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, P.R. China Author-Name: Ji Wang Title: Effects of rock fragments on the water infiltration and hydraulic conductivity in the soils of the desert steppes of Inner Mongolia, China Abstract: Soils that contain rock fragments (particles > 2 mm in diameter) are distributed all over the world. The presence of these small rock fragments can have a great impact on soil water retention properties, as well as on the soil-water infiltration and vegetation restoration in semi-arid regions. To quantitatively describe the transport of water in stony soils, repacked soil cores were used to determine the infiltration rates for different rock fragment contents (0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40%) and rock fragment sizes (2-5, 5-8, 8-11, and 2-11 mm). The results showed that both the content and size of the rock fragments and their interaction significantly affected the infiltration process. The infiltration rates over time and the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) decreased with an increasing rock fragment content to an observed minimum value for a 40% rock fragment content. The soil-water infiltration processes were accurately described by the Kostiakov model. The measured and calculated Ks values decreased with an increasing rock fragment content, which was in accordance with the published data and in accordance with the Ks obtained by five empirical methods. The variations in the measured Ks were likely due to the variations in the soil properties caused by the soil sample repacking. The results of this study may improve the understanding of the effects of the rock fragment content and size on the infiltration processes in arid and semi-arid desert steppes. Keywords: arid grassland, rock fragment content, rock fragment size, saturated hydraulic conductivity, soil infiltration rate Journal: Soil and Water Research Pages: 151-163 Volume: 16 Issue: 3 Year: 2021 DOI: 10.17221/107/2020-SWR File-URL: http://swr.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/107/2020-SWR.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/swr-202103-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlswr:v:16:y:2021:i:3:id:107-2020-SWR Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Vyacheslav Polyakov Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Applied Ecology, Faculty of Biology, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation Author-Name: Alexander Kozlov Author-Workplace-Name: Laboratory of Industrial Sanitation and Ecology "LiK", St. Petersburg, Russian Federation Author-Name: Azamat Suleymanov Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Soil Science, Ufa Institute of Biology, Ufa Federal Research Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ufa, Russia Federation Author-Name: Evgeny Abakumov Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Applied Ecology, Faculty of Biology, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation Title: Soil pollution status of urban soils in St. Petersburg city, North-west of Russia Abstract: The intensive urbanisation of terrestrial environments and industrial activity have an effect on the accumulation of risky metals in the soil and increase the toxicological risk to the terrestrial ecosystems and human health. Ninety-six topsoil samples from of St. Petersburg Russia as the source of the content of seven key risky metals (As, Cd, Pb, Zn, Ni, Cu, Hg) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been investigated. To identify the spatial distribution of the risky metals and PAHs, GIS technologies have been used. Based on the data obtained, interactive maps of urban soil pollution were made. The spatial distribution of seven metals and their metalloids greatly varied from the local anthropic inputs. The results indicate that the highest concentrations of copper, mercury and lead were found in the urban environment. The most polluted areas were located in the city centre and the areas adjacent to industrial zones. The topsoil in this area represents an environmental pollution risk with regards to the elements Cu > Pb > As > Zn > Ni > Hg > Cd. The contents of the risk-type elements in the industrial area were higher than those in other land-use types in the north of city, indicating a considerable risk of metal migration and accumulation to the Neva River, the Gulf of Finland and the groundwater. Keywords: artificial alluvial landscapes, benzo(a)pyrene, risk elements, soil pollution Journal: Soil and Water Research Pages: 164-173 Volume: 16 Issue: 3 Year: 2021 DOI: 10.17221/95/2020-SWR File-URL: http://swr.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/95/2020-SWR.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/swr-202103-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlswr:v:16:y:2021:i:3:id:95-2020-SWR Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Áron Béni Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary Author-Name: Evelin Juhász Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary Author-Name: Péter Ragán Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary Author-Name: Tamás Rátonyi Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary Author-Name: Gábor Várbíró Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Tisza River Research, Danube Research, Institute, Centre for Ecology of HAS, Debrecen, Hungary Author-Name: István Fekete Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Environmental Sciences, University of Nyíregyháza, Nyíregyháza, Hungary Title: Development of soil organic matter measurement system Abstract: We managed to create a self-developed sensor system, which is based on the simultaneous reflectance measurements at a 660 and 940 nm wavelength. The ratio of the reflectance refers to the concentration of the soil organic carbon (SOC). This instrument has a calibration range of 1.19 to 6.05 SOC%. The SOC content of twenty-six soil samples was measured by the self-developed system and a standard spectrophotometric method and we found that the SOC estimation in the self-developed system had a good approximation and the differences ranged from -27.72% ~ + 6.99%. We found a strong correlation between the data of the reference measurements (R2 = 0.73) and the values indicated by our self-developed sensor system (Reference (SOX%) =1.4857 × E (SOC%) - 0.7393). This measurement system is easy to use and displays and records the data in real time. This allows one to map an agricultural production area based on the SOC concentration using its built-in GPS unit. Keywords: field instrument, reflectance measurement, SOC Journal: Soil and Water Research Pages: 174-179 Volume: 16 Issue: 3 Year: 2021 DOI: 10.17221/18/2021-SWR File-URL: http://swr.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/18/2021-SWR.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/swr-202103-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlswr:v:16:y:2021:i:3:id:18-2021-SWR Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Viktoria Vona Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Széchenyi István University, Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary Author-Name: Endre Andor Tóth Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Széchenyi István University, Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary Author-Name: Csaba Centeri Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE), Gödöllő, Hungary Author-Name: Zsolt Giczi Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Széchenyi István University, Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary Author-Name: Zsolt Biró Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE), Gödöllő, Hungary Author-Name: Gergely Jakab Author-Workplace-Name: Geographical Research Institute, Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary Author-Name: Gabor Milics Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Széchenyi István University, Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary Author-Name: Istvan Mihaly Kulmány Author-Workplace-Name: Research Institute of Agricultural Economics, National Agricultural Research and Innovation Center, Budapest, Hungary Author-Name: Renato Kalocsai Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Széchenyi István University, Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary Author-Name: Attila Jozsef Kovács Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Széchenyi István University, Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary Title: The effect of soil physicochemical characteristics on zinc analysis methods Abstract: Zn is an essential micronutrient involved in a wide variety of physiological processes. Soils are tested for zinc in many countries with several extractants. Each country has its validated methods, best-suited for its soils. The current study was designed to compare different zinc content measuring methods with seventy-one samples from Hungary. The data were first compared for the whole dataset and then in certain categories such as CaCO3-content, pH, texture and clay content. The zinc content was determined by the water extraction, KCl-EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid), Mehlich 3, CoHex (cobalt hexamine trichloride), and XRF (X-ray fluorescence) methods. Based on the analyses of all the data, we can conclude that all the methods are different. However, further analyses during the comparison of the methods based on the influencing factors, such as the pH, lime content, texture class, and clay content proved that, in some of the cases, there are similarities among the methods and, this way, we can get more knowledge on the measurements and the results provided. Farmers can gain extra knowledge from the comparison of the influencing factors to know where intervention is needed to use extra Zn for the proper fertilisation of their plants. Keywords: comparative analyses, extraction methods, soil test Journal: Soil and Water Research Pages: 180-190 Volume: 16 Issue: 3 Year: 2021 DOI: 10.17221/53/2020-SWR File-URL: http://swr.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/53/2020-SWR.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/swr-202103-0005.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlswr:v:16:y:2021:i:3:id:53-2020-SWR Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Faisal I. Zeineldin Author-Workplace-Name: Water Studies Center, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia Author-Name: Yousef Al-Molhim Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Environmental and Natural Resources, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia Title: Polymer and deficit irrigation influence on water use efficiency and yield of muskmelon under surface and subsurface drip irrigation Abstract: Water scarcity is a major constraint facing vegetable production sustainability in open field farming of arid regions like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This study was carried out in an open field of the Research and Training Station of King Faisal University in the eastern region of the Kingdom. The objective was to assess the influences of the polymer addition (PA), deficit irrigation regime (DIR), and their combination on the production and water use efficiency (WUE) of muskmelons. PA treatments of 0.0, 0.2 and 0.4% and the irrigation treatments of 100, 75 and 50% of reference evapotranspiration (ETo), were imposed throughout the growth stages of muskmelons under surface drip irrigation (DI) and subsurface drip irrigation (SDI). The polymer addition of 0.4% enhanced the field water holding capacity of the medium sandy soil within the locality of the emitters by 43.6%. The soil water content of the surface layer within the vicinity of the polymer amended soil layer increased in a range of 72.4 to 99.4% to the combined influences of the 0.4% PA with the DI and SDI, but were marked more under the SDI. The combination of the 100% ETo DIR with polymer additions significantly (P < 0.05) enhanced the muskmelon fruit yield (MFY) under the SDI compared to DI. The PA of 0.4% improved WUE and MFY by 67.7, 70.4% under the SDI, and 58.6, 24.2% under the DI, respectively. Without the polymer addition (0.0% PA), the MFY significantly (P < 0.05) decreased with the increase of the DIRs under both DI and SDI. Keywords: deficit irrigation regime, drip irrigation methods, K-highly crossed-linked polyacrylamide, melon water productivity, open field farming Journal: Soil and Water Research Pages: 191-203 Volume: 16 Issue: 3 Year: 2021 DOI: 10.17221/94/2020-SWR File-URL: http://swr.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/94/2020-SWR.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/swr-202103-0006.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlswr:v:16:y:2021:i:3:id:94-2020-SWR